


A pile of nuts and dolts (Nuts and Dolts week prompts 2020)

by Twilightdusk



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, F/F, Fluff, Nuts and Dolts Week (RWBY), One Shot Collection, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:49:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 6,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23496328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Twilightdusk/pseuds/Twilightdusk
Summary: Short one-shots for Nuts and Dolts week.
Relationships: Penny Polendina/Ruby Rose
Comments: 2
Kudos: 65





	1. First Date

Ruby sighed gently to herself as she walked through the doors into Atlas Academy, pulling out her scroll to check the time. That morning she'd selected a search and rescue mission to find some children who'd fallen into Mantle's sewer system, but it turned out that they hadn't moved far from where they fell, so it was over before it really got started. So now instead of spending the day scouring the sewers like she had expected to, here she was back at Atlas before it was even time for lunch. She sighed again as she pocketed her scroll and briefly considered just heading to the dining hall anyway, but the memory of the last time she was mistaken for an overeager freshman made her decide to just head back to her team's room.

Ruby stretched her arms up above her lazily as she walked through the dorm halls and smiled to herself as she heard muffled conversations through the walls. Some students were laughing with each other, one voice shouting in frustration about something, probably studying related. Even though it was practically the other side of the world, students were still students. She turned her attention forward as she approached her room, only to see an unexpected orange-haired figure stepping out of it. "Penny? What are you doing here?"

The robot girl stopped in her tracks and turned to face Ruby. Her eyes were wide with shock for a moment before they relaxed and she put on her usual smile. "Oh! Hello there Ruby! I did not think you were going to be back from your mission so soon, how did things go?" Penny clasped her hands behind her back as she spoke, taking a step back so that she was no longer in front of the doorway.

Ruby blinked a few times and nodded her head in response. "It uh, it went way more smoothly than I think anyone expected, so here I am, back up in Atlas already..." She frowned a little as she walked closer to her friend. "Penny, if you didn't think I was going to be back yet, why were you in my room?"

Penny's stance straightened up a bit and her eyes went wide for a moment before she responded. "W-well, today is a maintenance day for me so I was just stationed here at the academy instead of assigned to a mission, and while I was waiting to hear back I just figured I'd drop by!" She forced a wide smile on her face as she stood still.

Ruby stared at her friend for a few long moments before sighing in resignation, as much as she liked Penny she was very difficult to understand at times. She met the forced smile with one of her own as she started to walk into the dorm room. "Well, since I am back already and you're here, do you want to hang out a bit? I can set up some video games to play, or we can- huh?" Her train of thought was interrupted as she noticed something on her desk, a plain white envelope with a small heart sticker holding it closed. She picked it up and turned it over a few times, but there wasn't any sign of who had left it. "Hey Penny, was this letter here when you showed up?"

Penny's eyes widened again as she chuckled from the doorway. "L-Letter? What letter? I don't- *hic!*-" Penny quickly covered her mouth after that nervous noise and cleared her throat. "I-I mean, I didn't see any letter when I entered your room no."

Ruby blinked a few times and slowly nodded her head, recognizing that noise from when her friend was keeping a secret from her, all the way back in Vale. Something was starting to add up in her head as she opened up the letter, a single small page of words printed very neatly on it.

_Ruby,_

_Your eyes shine like the moon on a most beautiful night,_  
_Like the moon, I have admired you from afar,_  
_But I wish to admire you more closely now._  
_Please meet me on the 8th floor balcony tonight._

_-Your secret admirer_

Ruby's cheeks tinged red as she read the note, chuckling to herself as everything came together in her mind. She looked up at Penny, whose cheeks were even redder than hers as she fidgeted her fingers together. "Penny...did you leave this letter for me?"

Penny clasped her hands together and Ruby could practically hear the gears turning in her mind as she considered how to answer. Eventually her shoulders slumped forward in defeat. "Yes...I did. I'm sorry Ruby, I messed it up."

Ruby tilted her head in confusion as she started to walk closer to her. "Messed what up Penny?"

"I overheard some of the students talking about how to confess their feelings to someone, and they talked about writing a secret admirer letter. I thought I could try doing something like that too, but you saw me leaving it, so I guess it doesn't work now."

"Doesn't work...?" Ruby blinked and smiled, feeling her cheeks redden more as she reached to take Penny's hand. "Penny...if you wanted to ask me out on a date, you didn't have to use a letter like this you know."

Penny continued to blush as she started down at their connected hands, eventually looking up to meet Ruby's eyes with a nervous expression. "Does that mean...you would still like to meet up tonight Ruby?"

"I would like nothing better my dear Penny~" Ruby giggled as she leaned closer to give her friend a hug, and after a moment of hesitation, she pressed her lips gently against the other girl's cheek. "But instead of the balcony, how about you just give me a call when you're done with that maintenance?"

Penny's eyes widened again, and she reached her hand to touch her cheek where Ruby had kissed her. After a few moments her expression broke into a genuine, wide smile as she nodded her head "Yes! I will let you know as soon as I'm done Ruby. I can't wait for our date!"

Ruby smiled and waved her hand as she watched Penny leave down the hallway. She walked back into her dorm room again and made sure the door was closed before she slumped back against it, holding her deeply blushing face in her hands as she started to process the fact that she suddenly had a date with Penny tonight.


	2. Weapon Maintenance

Ruby hummed and muttered to herself as she stood over a workbench in Atlas Academy's weapon maintenance room. Her precious Crescent Rose was laid out onto it, partially disassembled with the scythe blade and several nuts, bolts, and other mechanical parts laid out a short distance from the main body of the weapon. "Oh my sweetheart how could I let this happen..." She sighed and leaned closer over the weapon, a small wrench in her hand and other tools at the ready to get a better look at where the damage was. She reached to press a button on the grip and grimaced at how the gears that were supposed to flip her blade around jammed uselessly against each other. "Aaargh!" She cried out in frustration and shook her head as she held it in her hands "I was so stupid and so careless, how could I let this happen to her, how could-!"

"Ruby? Is everything OK?" A familiar voice snapped Ruby out of her focus and she turned around quickly, her gaze meeting the concerned expression of Penny.

"O-Oh hey there Penny! Everything's ah, under control I guess. How um..." Ruby gulped nervously and reached to rub the back of her head. "How long have you been in here?"

Penny hummed softly, a small frown on her face. "About when you were saying something happened to your 'sweetheart'? I must say I am rather confused, I thought that I was your sweetheart, but I don't recall anything bad happening to me recently that would be your fault Ruby."

Ruby's cheeks blushed a shade to match her name as her eyes widened. Her hands flailed in front of her as she struggled to figure out how to explain herself. "Th-that's not! ah, it's not like there's another girl or anything, it's just um, er well.."

Penny's expression held for several seconds before a small laugh slipped through her lips and she smiled, reaching out to place a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Please calm down Ruby, I would never think you meant something like that. I was just a bit confused is all. So who or what is your sweetheart then? What happened?"

Ruby took a few deep breaths and nodded her head. "S-sorry, it's just a little embarrassing I guess." She took a step to the side to let Penny have a better look at her weapon where it laid on the bench. "I just meant Crescent Rose, I er, refer to it like that sometimes. In a lot of ways it was one of my first friends so I got a bit attached to it. But..." She sighed sadly as she moved to look at the damage again. "I accidentally fired a gravity round while the blade was moving during a fight earlier and I think it jammed the mechanism your dad put in, he warned me to be careful about that too, I just forgot in the heat of things, some huntress I am right?" 

Penny nodded her head and continued smiling as she moved to stand next to Ruby, taking a look at the damage herself. "You should not blame yourself Ruby, battles are fast and stressful, and our weapons need to be built to handle that. If there is an issue, we should let my father know so he can find a way to keep it from happening again, he is the one who added that function after all." She hummed as her eyes telescoped slightly, letting her focus closer as she took one of Ruby's tools and fiddled at the jam.

Ruby blinked and bit her lip as Penny started to work on her weapon. "Ah that's- you don't have to do that Penny, I-I'll figure out how to fix it my-"

"Done~" Penny happily stood up from the weapon and activated the mechanism again, the gears turning perfectly and the connector to the blade turning the full 180 degrees it was supposed to.

Ruby stared in surprise for several seconds before bolting forward, wrapping her arms around the still dismantled weapon and rubbing her cheek against it "You're fixed! You're cured! Oh my sweet Crescent Rose you're back to your good old self you're-" She stopped short and opened her eyes as she remembered that she wasn't alone in the room, chuckling nervously as she looked up towards Penny again. "I-I mean, thanks for the help Penny~"

Penny stared blankly at her girlfriend's outburst. She frowned slightly and brought her hands together. "Ruby...are you...sure that I don't have anything to worry about?"

Ruby chuckled more and carefully set her weapon back down. "R-really there's nothing going on. I just get worked up over my weapon is all."

"You say that but..." Penny let out a sigh and looked to the side. "We have been 'going out' for a few weeks now, and I have never seen you get that worked up over me. I suppose seeing you act that way toward something else is making me...nervous." Penny bit her lip and shook her head, turning back to Ruby with a forced smile. "You are right though, it is simply a weapon, it is highly illogical for that to worry me, I should probably have some maintenance done myself."

Ruby stared back in thought for a few moments before smiling and walking over to Penny, taking her girlfriends hands into her own. "I don't think anything's wrong with you at all Penny. Feeling nervous or even...jealous like that, it's a normal part of being human. So it's a normal part of being you~" She smiled more and leaned closer, wrapping her arms around Penny and planting a quick kiss on her lips. "Besides, even if I did somehow love Crescent Rose more than you, it's not like she can love me back~"

Penny's eyes went wide in surprise at the sudden displays of affection. She eventually nodded her head and smiled again more genuinely. "Thank you Ruby, it means a lot to hear that from you. And I do promise I will not allow myself to be consumed with jealousy over your sweetheart." Her smile grew to a grin as she winked one of her eyes, the words making Ruby blush and chuckle as the two turned back to the weapon in question, working to reassemble it hand in hand.


	3. Flight

Flying, as a general concept, was something Ruby Rose felt she was familiar with. Given that airships were the main mode of travel between her island home of Patch and the proper city of Vale, she had gotten used to those at a young age. Being prepared to be flung through the air and recover from such was part of her combat training at Signal, and was put to the test during the very memorable initiation at Beacon. Recently, she'd even begun figuring out how to use her semblance to fly a short distance through the air rather than just using it as a speed boost on the ground.

So then, when her girlfriend Penny offered to fly her somewhere in Atlas with a wonderful view they could enjoy together, Ruby didn't think twice about saying yes. She figured that Penny meant they'd get on one of the many flying vehicles the people of Atlas use to get around, and that they have gotten used to using to travel between Atlas Academy and Mantle specifically. If she was thinking of surprises, she was trying to figure out if Penny meant they'd land somewhere in Atlas, maybe somewhere down in Mantle, or if she was really trying to brace herself, perhaps a particularly scenic bit of tundra.

What Ruby was not expecting was for Penny to suddenly pick her up into a bridal carry and jet off with her directly into the sky.

Ruby's arms were wrapped tightly around Penny's body as she kept her eyes closed during the ascent, the sensation of the air blowing at high speeds around her head and body leaving her too surprised to do anything else. Eventually the feeling of the pair rushing through the wind started to die down, and Ruby found her voice. "P-Penny? Not that I don't appreciate the gesture but, a-are we landing soon?"

"Nope~" Penny replied with an unconcerned tone to her voice. "We are not going to land anywhere Ruby. Please take a look~"

"Wh-what do you mean we're not landing...?" Ruby nervously opened her eyes and looked up at Penny's smiling face. After a few more moments of hesitation, she turned her head in the direction Penny was looking, and gasped.

The two of them were flying high over Atlas City, higher than any of the airships or buildings. The whole city was lit up against the dark of the night, from office buildings and apartments shining lights through their windows, to parks lit up with spotlights, to car and airship headlights darting across the landscape. "Penny it's...beautiful."

"I am so very glad you think so Ruby~" Penny smiled brightly and continued flying slowly through the air, letting the two of them take in the landscape beneath them. "Sometimes when I have free time, I fly up here to appreciate the view. Atlas is a very big city, but seeing it from up here helps me put things in perspective. I need to be able to protect the world after all, and Atlas is just a small part of it."

Ruby chuckled as she nodded her head. "Yea, from up here everything seems so small. The thought that each of those lights down there represents someone in some way..." She sighed and turned back to Penny, hugging herself closer. "And you won't be protecting all of them alone Penny. We'll be right there with you, and I'll be with you, OK?"

Penny nodded her head "Of course, I appreciate that very much Ruby. I hope we can protect everyone together."


	4. Combat Ready

Ruby paced back and forth in the waiting room to one of Atlas Academy's training rooms. For todays exercises, the group had been split into random teams of two to go up against each other, training for working together with unfamiliar partners. Yang and Blake had grumbled the most about it, but Ruby couldn't say she was entirely happy with the arrangement herself. Obviously she had been separated from Penny since she was her usual partner these days, and instead she was teamed up with-

"Would you stop pacing around like that? The battle will begin any moment, we need to be ready." Winter's harsh tone broke Ruby's train of thought, the younger girl jumping a little in place before turning to her with a stiff salute.

"S-Sorry ma'am! I'll stop pacing around!" Ruby gulped nervously and held back a sigh. Being paired with Yang or Blake or even Nora, Ren, or Jaune would be one thing, but instead she was teamed up with Weiss' older sister, an accomplished specialist in Atlas' military at that, she felt like it was impossible to not be nervous.

Winter let out a loud sigh of her own and turned away from the door to face Ruby more directly. "Listen, I understand that you're nervous about this, but that's precisely the intent of this exercise. When we're going off on missions we get to choose who we go with, but in a war zone situation, you might end up scattered, and you'll have to be ready to team up on the fly with whoever you find yourself with. This is a far more controlled version of that scenario, so just try to learn from it."

Ruby nodded her head and forced herself to smile "I appreciate the advice Winte- ah, Ma'am." Ruby cleared her throat as she corrected how she addressed her. "But to be honest, that's not really the part that has me nervous." She gripped oner of her arms with ehr opposite hand as she looked towards the door, thinking about the pair waiting on the opposite side of the arena.

* * *

"...So you wish for our strategy to involve protecting you as you summon your Arma Gigas?" Penny tilted her head curiously as she went over her partner's plan again.

Weiss nodded her head and smiled confidently "Indeed. I've gotten better at controlling it while I'm still fighting myself, but it's vulnerable while it's being summoned. As long as the battlefield setup has walls I should be able to pull it off, but Winter and Ruby will both know what I'm trying to do, so I'll need you to watch my back while I'm doing it, alright?"

Penny hesitated for a moment and nodded her head, her gaze ending up towards the ground. "Right, Ruby should be quite familiar with your abilities by now. If the battlefield is set up as such, she will probably begin by dashing around trying to find you. So I will have to...stop her." She couldn't help but frown at the thought of battling against her like that.

Weiss laughed and waved a hand dismissively "Ruby's still a dolt in situations like this, I'm more worried about my sister to be honest. She'll probably try to summon those birds she likes, and they might-"

"R-Ruby is not a dolt!" Penny's sudden outburst snapped Weiss away from her train of thought and towards Penny's slightly angry expression as she continued. "I have been on many missions with her over the past weeks and she is nothing if not analytical about what her enemies can do and how to fight them. I am most sure that she will be trying to counter you right away."

Weiss chuckled nervously and put her hands in the air. "E-easy there Penny, don't you think you might be taking that a little too personally? I mean, when you two are off on missions you're probably contributing a lot too in that respect"

Penny blinked and then frowned more, more in frustration than anger. "You...may be right. But I still believe that Ruby will be a most formidable opponent, we should not underestimate her."

Weiss hummed in thought and smiled softly, reaching out to place a hand on Penny's shoulder. "Hey listen, if it would make things easier for you, we can just try to pair off instead. I can take out Ruby while you focus on my sister?"

Penny blinked a few times before shaking her head, and returned the smile. "I...appreciate the consideration Weiss, but that would not be fair to Ruby. She is a licensed Huntress now, and we will need to fight her and Winter both with the best plan we can if we wish to be victorious." 

Weiss smiled more and nodded her head, turning towards the doorway as the signal that their match was about to start sounded. "Alright then. Ready to take them out Penny?"

Penny nodded her head and took up her combat stance, her blades fanning out in a ring behind her. "I am combat ready!"


	5. AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Human!Penny and Robot!Ruby AU

Weiss sighed gently to herself as she stepped off of the Atlas transport ship and took her first steps onto the grounds of Beacon Academy. This was finally her chance to prove herself, to get away from her father and everything back at Atlas and study in a setting where she can prove herself to be the best without anyone looming over her to make demands or remind her of the expectations on her shoulders. Or at least, that's how it was supposed to be.

"Wow~ Beacon Academy looks even more impressive in person than it did in the pictures, don't you think so Miss Schnee?" Weiss sighed to herself as she turned to the source of the chipper voice, a dark skinned girl with curly brown hair who was getting off of the same shuttle behind her. As her luck would have it, the daughter of the esteemed Professor Polendina was also attending Beacon this year, though in her case it seemed like her father had encouraged rather than forbidden her to explore the world beyond Atlas' walls.

Weiss gripped her hand into a fist for a moment before releasing it with another sigh. "Penny, I've told you how many times already that I just want you to call me Weiss while we're here?" The flight to Beacon from Atlas had been a trying one for the heiress, between it being understandably the longest time she'd ever been in the air and Penny's constant excited attempts to start conversation with her.

Penny straightened out a little and chuckled, rubbing the back of her head "Sorry...Weiss, it's just going to take a little getting used to I suppose. I mean, you are the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company after all."

Weiss let out a deep breath at the reminder and nodded her head. "Yes, yes I am. And you, Penny, are related to one of Atlas' top scientific minds, so unless you think I should be calling you Miss Polendina, I don't see the need for such formalities."

"Hmm, I suppose that does sound a bit weird when you say it out loud." Penny closed her eyes for a moment and nodded her head before opening them again. "Alright then, I will resolve to simply call you- Look out!" 

Penny gasped and dropped her bag, reaching out towards Weiss, who turned her head just in time to see the red-cloaked figure barreling into her, knocking her over and ending in both of them knocked down to the ground. "Ow! Hey, what do you think you're doing!?" Weiss asked incredulously as she tried to push the figure off of her.

The hood of the girl's cloak came down in the process of the two of them separating and standing up. She had slightly messy black hair framing her pale skin, and a surprisingly neutral expression on her face for someone who just bowled over someone else. Most striking of all however was her eyes. They didn't look quite right, more like camera lenses than normal eyeballs, and Penny could swear they were glowing faintly. Eventually the girl spoke, her tone matching that neutral expression. "I was running along to the main hall like Yang requested."

Weiss scoffed at the response as she dusted off her skirt "I don't care who requested you to do what, it is beyond rude to run into people like that, do you understand me?"

The girl hesitated for a moment before nodding her head "Yes, I understand. It shall not happen again."

Weiss blinked a few times as a silence fell between the three of them, eventually broken by another voice approaching them. "Ruby! Are you OK? You didn't get damaged or anything did you?" A more energetic girl with long blonde hair was suddenly at the side of the strange girl, who was apparently named Ruby. She held the girl's head as she inspected it for any injury.

"I am fine Yang." Ruby responded in her flat tone of voice. "I simply fell, I did not suffer any damage."

"I'm fine too, thanks for asking." Weiss chimed in with a much more annoyed tone of voice, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "Just who do you two think you are anyway?"

"Right, sorry..." The blonde girl cleared her throat before smiling widely and casually bringing both of her hands behind her head. "My name's Yang, I'm a new student here. And this is my, erm..." She hesitated and glanced at Ruby for a moment before finishing her thought. "This is Ruby, she's just here to help me."

Weiss scoffed and waved a hand dismissively "Some help she is, practically running me over like that. Shouldn't a girl her age know better than to go running off like that?"

"Well ah, it's a bit complicated honestly. But I'll keep a better eye on her, sorry to disturb you like that. Come on...Ruby?" Yang glanced over to her side again, only to see Penny very carefully taking a look at Ruby herself.

Penny squinted her eyes in thought as she looked closely at Ruby's eyes, and experimentally tapped the other girl's forehead with her finger. Eventually she let out an excited gasp, reaching to clasp Ruby's hands "Oh my dust! You're a robot! I remember my Father talking about units like you a few months ago, prototypes that can pass for being human, oh but I never got to see one of them up close! I didn't think there would be any outside of Atlas, when did it-" Ruby stared back blankly as Penny gushed over her, her face starting to frown slightly.

"Hey back off her already!" Yang interrupted Penny's questions by physically putting herself between them, forcing the girl to let go of Ruby's hands. She sighed and looked around carefully, fortunately the stretch of walkway they were on was fairly deserted, other groups of people hanging back by the dock or having already moved on to the school proper.

Weiss frowned and narrowed her eyes at Yang. "Just who are you exactly? Don't tell me you stole that robot from Atlas, I'll have you know my sister is-"

"We didn't steal her!" Yang's eyes turned red as she interrupted Weiss, only to fade back to purple as she let out a sigh. "Look I said it's complicated. Our dad has some connections with Atlas, and he practically poured his heart and soul into Ruby. He wanted me to bring her along so she could try to learn things here with me, as far as the school is concerned she's my little sister, and I'm fully responsible for her while I'm here. So I'm sorry she ran off like that, but please don't spread any weird rumors or anything, OK?"

Weiss continued to frown at the pair of them. "Give me one good reason why we should-"

"Of course we won't spread rumors!" Penny excitedly chimed in, gazing excitedly at Ruby more. "If word got out you might not get to keep her here right? I would hate to cause that kind of trouble for you, and besides, since we already know, it would be fine if I ah, helped out sometimes maybe? My father is a specialist in this field after all." She grinned excitedly as she stared up at Yang, who sighed again.

"Yea sure fine, if it will help make sure you keep quiet. I'll see you around I guess, we still need to show up for the welcome ceremony. Come on Ruby." Yang turned to start walking towards the school building. Ruby turned to follow her, but hesitated for a step. She turned back towards Penny and gave her a small smile before turning back to her sister to head towards the main building.


	6. Angst

Ruby panted deeply for air and her eyes darted left and right as she ran through the streets of Vale. Here and there she stopped for a moment to swing her scythe through a rampaging Grimm, or a- "Hostile Target, activating defense proto-" Ruby interrupted the Atlas robot by cleaving it in two, grimacing at the sight of it. Seeing these military robots turning on her and the citizens of Vale was horrible and scary on its own, but it was also a reminder of what she wanted to forget, of what she refused to accept. She must have seen something wrong, her eyes must have been playing tricks on her. That's why she has to find her, and quickly.

As Ruby continued her mad dash through the city, she eventually found what she was looking for, though the sight of it only made her heart sink further. As she was approaching an intersection, she saw a flurry of flying blades shoot past it, followed by painful, agonized cries. Maybe it was from huntsman, or Atlas military, or dust forbid innocent civilians. But Ruby didn't have time to look that way and see who had gotten hurt, she turned the corner in time to watch the blades return to their owner, hovering around her in a circular formation.

Penny Polendina stood in the middle of the street, her body locked in a combat stance, and the bodies of various Atlas military personnel lined the street around her, some still groaning in pain, others silent and unmoving. Her dress, hair, and ribbon blew in the wind just like they always do, but her expression was cold, and her eyes were shining red. Those eyes locked instantly on the red cloaked figure darting into the intersection, a match immediately found in her databanks. "Hostile Target, activating defense protocols."

"Penny stop! What are you doing? Why are you-!" Ruby's eyes widened as Penny's swords flew at her. She spun her scythe defensively as she darted left and right out of the way, gritting her teeth as she fought to move closer to her friend. "Penny please! This isn't you! You can stop this!"

Penny didn't respond with any words, she simply adjusted the position of her hands, and suddenly Ruby found herself being fired on from behind, each of the swords that flew past her converting into laser blasters. "Penny, you know I don't want to hurt you, and I know you don't want to hurt-ah!" Ruby cried out as one of the blasts found its mark, hitting her square in the back and sending her down to one knee for a moment, before she quickly pulled herself up and dodged away from a barrage of more lasers that hit where she just was.

Ruby gritted her teeth as she looked behind her, in front of her, and then above, squinting to make out the cables of Penny's weapon. "Penny...forgive me for this." Ruby continued dodging side to side as she loaded a cartridge of lightning dust into her weapon. She waited for a moment to make sure the weapons were still firing at her before she darted upwards, stopping just above where those cables were held taught. She cried out as she spun her scythe down into them, the blade crackling with electricity as it sparked against and after a moment through the connections. Penny's red eyes widened and she cried out in pain as several of her blades fell to the ground, the robot girl staggering backwards as she withdrew the remaining ones towards herself.

Ruby panted for breath and did her best to hold back sobs from the sound of her girlfriend crying out in pain like that. She stood and spun around to face her again, pointing at her with the scythe. "Penny stop this already! Please don't make me have to hurt you more!"

Penny didn't seem to react to her words at all, taking a combat stance with the six blades still attached to her and rushing towards Ruby with them. Ruby gritted her teeth again and spun her scythe to defend herself, the sound of metal clashing against metal rung through the streets as they fought. Penny was careful now not to extend her blades too far away from herself, and Ruby was mostly fighting on the defensive, still attempting to get through to her.

Eventually the sound of Penny's pained screaming echoed again, as Ruby's scythe found its mark on her legs, the sound of the blade sheering through metal echoing in Ruby's mind as the robot girl fell over, electricity sparking from the cuts as her eyes telescoped in and out a few times as she analyzed her situation.

Ruby let her weapon fall to her side as she dropped to her knees, tears streaming down her face as she reached to cup Penny's cheeks. "Penny I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry. Please, tell me you're there, tell me something..."

Penny's stoic, unemotive expression held on her face. "Unit compromised, requesting backup." 

Ruby sat there in the street for more time than she could process, eventually broken out of her sobs by the sound of more atlas robots stomping towards their position. She growled angrily and snapped up her weapon, turning to face the approaching robots. "Fine! Bring as many of them as you want here Penny, I'll wreck them all and I'm not going to leave you until whatever's going on is fixed!" With tears continuing to stream down her cheeks, she charged at the advancing enemies, and the sound of her blade cutting through metal continued to ring through the street into the night.


	7. Family

Ruby smiled sadly to herself as she knelt in front of the gravestone sitting on the edge of Patch. It certainly wasn't a normal, or even particularly safe place for such a monument, but her mother hadn't been an ordinary woman. Besides, the weather was a lot nicer today than that one time she had to fight off a pack of Beowolves after visiting, and the world in general was a safer place now, thanks to all of their efforts.

Ruby placed a rose down on the marker as she heard footsteps approaching behind her. Eventually, Penny knelt down next to her, carefully reading the gravestone. "Summer Rose." she recited out loud. "So this is where your mother was buried Ruby?"

Ruby shook her head, turning to face her girlfriend with a smile. "No, we didn't exactly have a body to bury. The marker was just a way to help accept she was gone I guess, I was pretty young at the time. Dad tells me that this cliff was an important place to her, she'd come here to look out over the world and marvel at how big it must be out there." She sighed gently as she turned her gaze out to the horizon, the sun starting to set painting an extremely pretty view.

Penny nodded her head and looked out herself, a smile on her face. "She sounds like a wonderful person Ruby, the sight must have been quite inspiring for her." Ruby nodded, and the two shared a quiet moment standing in front of the gravestone. Eventually Penny spoke up again. "I did not exactly have a mother of my own. I have my father, and all of the other scientists who helped bring me into being, but the more I hear about your mother Ruby, I truly wish that I could have had someone like her in my life."

"Yea, I wish she were still around myself. I bet she would have loved to meet you." Ruby sighed again and stood up onto her feet, extending a hand to help Penny up. "But that's why we've fought as hard as we do right? To make sure that nobody has to go through things like this again, and to cherish those who are still here with us."

Penny accepted the hand and pulled herself to her feet, keeping her hand in Ruby's. "Of course. I am incredibly grateful for my father after all, as well as your father, and Yang, and everyone else."

Ruby nodded her head and smiled more happily. "Speaking of all of them, it's probably about time we headed back to the house. I love your dad too but I think he and Yang still clash a little regarding how she treats that arm he made."

Penny giggled, her hair bobbing gently in the evening light. "You are probably correct. Shall we then?" Ruby nodded her head, and Penny picked her up into a bridal carry and activated her jets, carrying the two of them off into the air. The rush of wind scattered the petals of the rose on the gravestone into the air, blowing out towards the sea.


	8. Free Day

Ruby threw open the door to her team's dorm room with all the force and grandeur she could muster. "Freedom!" She shouted into the air as she practically flew up into her bed using her semblance, rose petals scattering around as she wrapped herself up in her blankets, only to overshoot and end up falling down off the other side of it, too constricted by her blankets to stop herself from slamming into the floor. "oww..."

"Ruby? Are you OK?" Ruby blinked and rolled over to face upwards, seeing Penny's hand extended towards her.

"Oh! hey there Penny, I didn't realize you were in here. Let me just ah..." Ruby bit her lip and rolled side to side a few times before eventually freeing herself from her blanket cocoon. "Aaah, that's better."

Penny tilted her head curiously but smiled at her friend's antics. "So what do you have freedom from now Ruby? You seemed excited as you entered the room."

Ruby grinned at Penny and pumped her hands into the air "From classes of course! It's the weekend now Penny, that means no classes and no thinking about classes until Monday~"

"Don't forget that we still have homework Ruby." Weiss' voice carried from the front of the room as the rest of the team came in. She waved a notebook in the air before setting it down at her desk and sitting down at it.

Ruby groaned and her hands fell towards the ground "Come oooon Weiss, can't you give me just one evening before reminding me of that?"

Weiss rolled her eyes as she started to go over her notes. "Just don't come crying to me when it's Sunday and you haven't gotten a start on anything."

"Ah come on, don't be so hard on her ice queen" Yang grinned as she searched through some of her drawers. "Weekends are for relaxing after all, can't focus on school all the time."

"Yes exactly!" Ruby perked up and dashed to the middle of the room. "So, as a celebration of weekend relaxation, who wants to play video games!" She grinned again as she held up two scroll controllers.

Yang chuckled and rubbed the back of her head "Actually, I was already planning to take Blake to a party down in Vale, sorry sis."

Blake nodded her head. "Of course, if it's not that interesting we might be back sooner rather than later."

"Aw don't be like that Blake, I promise it'll be such a good time you won't want to come back before midnight, earliest~"

Weiss rolled her eyes again and sighed loudly, closing her notebook. "If you're going to be playing video games, then I'll just go to the library to study, it'll be quieter there as usual."

Ruby's arms sank again as she watched her teammates file out of the room. She sighed, before she felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked up to see Penny's smiling face. "I would be most happy to play these games with you Ruby, could you show me how they work?"

Ruby bounced right back to a smile at that, sitting down on the ground and motioning for Penny to join her. "Of course! Don't worry about a thing Penny, we're going to have lots of fun together~"


End file.
